Many motor vehicles now rely on an electrical motor as a prime mover. Such vehicles include hybrid-electrical vehicles (including light hybrids), electric vehicles and fuel cell powered vehicles (together, “electrical vehicles”). Vehicles that use an electrical motor as a prime mover may use more than one bus voltage. Commonly a 12V bus is used to power traditional loads (e.g., filament lamps), while a higher voltage (e.g. 480V) is used to power the electric motor. The higher voltage can help enable greater torque density, leading to better performance. This architecture can benefit from multiple voltage sources, which can mean two batteries or a battery and a transformer. These components can be carried what is known as a “battery carrier”.
Traditional electrical vehicle battery carriers cannot bear loads in excess of the loads caused by the components affixed to them, i.e. the “carrying loads”. Often they are formed of multiple stamped steel parts, which have the undesirable features of heavy weight, susceptibility to corrosion, such as from battery acid, and a complicated assembly that can include welding. There is a need in the art for carriers that overcome these shortcomings and meet high mechanical performance requirements such as stiffness and strength.